United Airlines Begins Regularly Scheduled Flights Powered by Biofuel

United Airlines announced that it has begun operating regularly scheduled flights between Los Angeles and San Francisco using sustainable biofuel. The first flight, a Boeing 737, took off Friday, powered by a blend of petroleum based fuel and sustainable biofuel.

The move marks the first time an American airline is using renewable fuel for regularly scheduled service and the airline hopes to expand the program to other flights departing LAX.

The renewable fuel used to power United’s aircraft comes from AltAir Fuel’s Los Angeles refinery, which uses technology developed by Honeywell UOP to produce the jet fuel as well as renewable diesel fuel. United announced its partnership with AltAir back in 2013.

United said that its usage of the biofuel is part of its efforts to reduce carbon emissions and support energy diversification.

The fuel was made using renewable jet fuel process technology, which converts non-edible animal fats and oils into renewable fuels. United says that renewable fuel can replace up to 50% of petroleum-derived jet fuel that is used today without any change to the aircraft technology, and, depending on the biofeedstock, can offer a 65% to 85% reduction in greenhouse as emissions.

The coronavirus is now affecting 104 countries and territories across the globe and many travelers are postponing or cancelling their travel plans as a result.
In some cases, a traveler is holding off because travel to his destination is simply not possible due to quarantine and containment rules; in others, it’s simply a desire not to go somewhere where one might end up with the coronavirus or trapped in a quarantined …

In early May, Warren Buffett divested all of his investment firm’s holdings in the four major U.S. airlines, warning that the “world has changed” for the aviation industry due to the coronavirus crisis. In mid May, Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun said he saw a bumpy road ahead for the airline industry and predicted that a major carrier would not survive 2020 as a result.
It appears Buffett and Calhoun were on …